A Brief Sweet
by E-Loveless
Summary: Oneshot! It's halftime against Touou, and Kuroko's brought some snacks to refuel his team. Kuroko at Yosen fic! Pre-Slash Mura/Kuro


AN: This is a brief Mura/Kuro oneshot (kinda pre-slash), in which Kuroko went to Yosen. Just wanted to write this little fic, because it's fun :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket, however cute Kuroko is. I don't profit from this in the least.

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"Ah, so hungry," Murasakibara groaned, immediately rummaging through his bag for his stash of snacks once the team had hit the locker room.

Tatsuya ignored him for the moment, swallowing down some much needed water from his game bottle and panting against the lockers. Across from him sat Kensuke who had a damp towel pressed over his face and was laying down on the bench. Captain Kenichi and Wei were sitting to his right and left, the burly captain massaging his shoulders while the

Touou had come out much like they'd expected: hard and fast right out of the gate. For the most part, the teams were evenly matched, an overwhelming defensive team versus a likewise overwhelming offensive team, but defending against Aomine Daiki was difficult, even for Atsushi. Imayoshi Shoichi as well was difficult to defend against for his sheer unpredictability. Not to mention how irritating his sly smirks were. Tatsuya was quickly growing tired of his own mark, Sakurai, who had the annoying habit of constantly apologizing for anything and everything on the court. At least until he continually failed to stop him from making threes when Sakurai began to pout and mutter benign insults under his breath.

"Make sure to hydrate," Coach Araki reminded them, shooting a glare at Murasakibara, who was still rummaging frantically in his back. "In two minutes, I'll be back to go over the game plan for the next half." She exited then exited the locker room, leaving the team to catch their breath.

"Good work, Himuro-san," Kuroko Tetsuya said, offering him a towel.

The phantom sixth man had joined the Yosen basketball team after his father had been relocated to the Akita district and he transferred to the school. Though they had not expected much from him for his short stature and weak constitution, Tetsuya had proven himself an immensely skilled player who took the decent offensive power of Yosen up several notches. Tatsuya expected he'd be put into the game for the last half to ensure their victory against Touou.

"Thank you, Tetsuya." Tatsuya smiled gratefully, accepting the towel and wiping around his neck and chin. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," he replied instantly, and Tatsuya smiled at the excited nod of teal-colored hair.

"Kuro-chin, Muro-chin," Atsushi whined, his normally apathetic face tightened at the edges. "I'm all out of snacks. Do you have anything?"

"Ah, just a moment, Murasakibara-kun," Tetsuya answered politely. He headed over to his locker for the night, opened the door, and withdrew several plastic containers.

"I brought half-time snacks for everyone, " he said quietly, though everyone in the room heard him clearly.

Atsushi appeared instantly at his side, his massive body almost vibrating with anticipation. Tatsuya too moved to hover around his smaller teammate, his mouth beginning to water a bit. Wei, Kensuke, and Kenichi had also come closer, though Atsushi stood almost protectively over Tetsuya, his arms spread pre-emptively around the containers as if defending the basket during the game.

"Atsushi," Tatsuya scolded him gently, but he wasn't too worried. Tetsuya, a long time friend and observer of the purple-haired center's voracious appetite, always made sure to bring plenty of snacks for everyone, despite how his much smaller arms struggled to carry the weight of three containers full of food.

He pulled a smooth fake to get around Atsushi's arms and lifted the boxes from Tetsuya's arms, smiling warmly. "What did you bring this time?"

"Well," Tetsuya began softly, lifting the top container and placing it on the bench where Kensuke had previously been laying. "I brought the usual lemon slices soaked in honey." Kenichi and Kensuke quickly snuck their hands into the container once Tetsuya had cracked open the lid and withdrew perfectly sliced pieces of lemons coated liberally in golden honey, devouring them with blissful sighs before reaching for more.

Tatsuya sighed in exasperated fondness; their phantom must have sliced at least fifteen lemons and poured at least as many bottles of honey into the container to have it so full, taking special care to draw artistic spirals of nutmeg and powdered sugar over the surface as well. Atsushi twitched toward the lemon slices but waited impatiently for the next two containers, his face expectant.

"And then, everyone like the granola protein bars I brought last week, so I made another batch of those, except this time with a few different flavors." He opened the container in the middle, which held neatly arrayed rows of small rectangular bars. "I made the granola and raisin bars with brown sugar and cinnamon, some oatmeal bars with pieces of strawberry and chocolate, and some bars with a green tea yogurt glaze with rice, cream, and mint for filling."

"Jeez, Tetsuya, this is too much." Tatsuya ruffled the boy's hair, grinning when his hand was fiercely swatted.

Wei reached for one of the green tea bars curiously and took a bite, nodded in thought and quickly finished that bar before grabbing another. On the other side of the bench, Kenichi and Kensuke grabbed a few of the bars themselves and squirreled them away in their cheeks, keeping a watchful eye on Murasakibara, who was glaring at the final box with frightening intensity.

"And lastly…" Tetsuya popped open the last box to reveal what looked like three long rows of fried rolls, some with a glazed shine or a layer of salt and pepper on the top. "My grandmother taught me how to use the fryer this past weekend. It's not really the same thing as maiubo, but I thought they tasted good."

Tatsuya blinked in surprise, and then eight of the corn snack rolls had vanished from the bottom of the container. Atsushi was currently cramming another into his mouth, a look of utter content on his face, and the shooting guard thought he could see bits of chocolate cream sneaking out around the center's lips.

"What's in these, Tetsuya?" he asked curiously.

"Ah, well, one kind is a sweet flavor with a chocolate cream filling and a sugar glaze while the other is a takoyaki flavor with beef and rice inside and sea salt on the outside. It's not the healthiest snack, but…" He trailed off, giving one of his small rare smiles at the expression of joy on Atsushi's face.

Tatsuya gave a huff of exasperated fondness at the boy, pushing his shroud of bangs away from his face. "You've out-done yourself, Tetsuya. Thank you." He picked up one of the protein bars and dug in, savoring the sweetness of the bits of strawberry, the smooth flavor of the dark chocolate, and the gooey granola. He quickly ate a few lemon slices as well before Kenichi and Kensuke could eat them all, nudging Tetsuya to eat a bit as well.

None of the rest of the team even attempted to try one of the maiubo from the third container, which was rapidly emptying under Atsushi's concentrated interest. If Tatsuya had attempted to eat that much before a game, he would have been sick within five minutes, but that was just the awesome power of Atsushi's appetite. He'd probably finish that container and then help finish off the protein bars and lemon slices as well.

"I'm glad that I can help, even if it's just this," Tetsuya replied quietly. His days at Teiko seemed to have left the phantom player with insecurity that Tatsuya wasn't sure how to cure him of, except with time. Their offensive potential doubled whenever he entered the court, and they hadn't lost a game yet since he'd joined the team, but Tetsuya often had doubts about his usefulness on the court. Tatsuya understood a bit, having grown up with a basketball powerhouse of a brother Taiga; playing with extremely naturally gifted players like those of the Generation of Miracles, particularly players like Atsushi, would give anyone a complex. Whatsmore, he knew Tetsuya must have spent hours in the kitchen learning how to make these recipes, many of which seemed to be slightly foreign in origin.

Tatsuya promised to work a bit harder on removing those insecurities from his friend's mind. He was an incredible team player in his own right, being able to put up with Atsushi's attitude for so long, and that's without even mentioning his passing specialties and his misdirection.

"Kuro-chin," Atsushi beckoned, lifting a massive hand to pat Tetsuya's head and draw him closer. "Thank you, Kuro-chin." His left hand was still holding roll after roll to his mouth, and his words were muffled by the food in his mouth.

"Yeah, thanks, Kuroko!" Kenichi called out in his booming voice, towering over the much smaller player and thumping him on the back, causing Tetsuya to lurch forward. "Thanks to that, I'm ready to head back into the game right now!"

Tatsuya quickly caught him before he could crash into the bench, giving his captain a look.

"Easy on him, Captain," Wei drawled from around a green tea yogurt bar.

"Yeah, with those giant arms hands of yours, you could dislocate his shoulder or something," Kensuke added dryly, chewing lazily on another lemon slice. "How do you expect to get a girlfriend like that?"

"Ah, sorry, Kuroko!" Captain Kenichi replied, wincing at the criticism from his teammates. The 'girlfriend' comment seemed to hit a sore spot, as he hunched over one of the granola bars with large eats glistening in his eyes.

"It's all right, Captain," Tetsuya reassured him, patting him on the arm.

The door to the locker room opened, and Coach Araki reappeared, taking in the array of snacks calmly. "Murasakibara, make sure you're drinking enough water," she ordered sharply at the gorging giant, who blinked at her lazily before quickly downing water bottle and continuing with his homemade maiubo.

"It's time to go over the game plan for the next two quarters, so listen up," she said loudly as she took a seat on the bench and crossed her legs, clipboard balanced against her knee. She casually reached over the containers and grabbed a protein bar, murmuring her thanks to Kuroko, before diving into the strategy.

As they left the locker room five minutes later, Tatsuya looked back as he heard Atsushi call Tetsuya's nickname.

"Yes, Murasakibara-kun?" He asked politely, looking up at the other with his inscrutable blue eyes.

"You made maiubo just for me," Atsushi said in his characteristically slow drawl. "That was pretty sweet of you, Kuro-chin."

"You're welcome," Tetsuya replied simply. "Make sure you play hard in the second half, Murasakibara-kun."

"Okay," the center answered easily, though his eyes flashed with energy.

"Ah, just a moment." Tetsuya pulled a napkin from his bag and stood on his tiptoes to wipe the crumbs away from Atsushi's face. "There."

"Thank you, Kuro-chin."

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AN: Hope you liked it!


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